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Published Nationally ®
Western Edition
September 27 2020 Vol. IX • No. 20
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Lessen COVID Impact on Jobs By Lucy Perry CEG CORRESPONDENT
FHA Quickly Releases Emergency Wildfire Funds...2
SEMA Construction is the general contractor working to replace the 50-year old Seagoville Road twin-bridges over I-635 in Dallas. John Deere’s Grade Control Offering...22
Easy as ABC SEMA Construction Uses Accelerated Bridge Construction on I-635 By Irwin Rapoport
Logging Leader Discusses Industry After RNC...64
Table of Contents ................4 Paving Section..............25-35 Off-Road Trucks Section ........ ......................................38-59 Auction Section ............62-65 Business Calendar..............63 Advertisers Index ..............66
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) was the method chosen by SEMA Construction to replace the 50-year old Seagoville Road twin-bridges over I-635 in Dallas to minimize the impacts on traffic using the busy highway. SEMA Construction Inc. crews demolished the existing northbound bridge and replaced it with a new span on the weekend of Aug. 28 to 31, and then repeated the same process for the existing southbound bridge. Both bridges were 219 ft. long and had four lanes. The project began last May and crews are expected to leave the job site in late September, following the clean up and
punch list items. The new bridges are the same length as the originals (219 ft. long) – 105 ft. long for middle pieces and 57 ft. long for pieces on both ends, and 70 ft. wide. The $9.21 million project has been in planning for several years. Each bridge consists of 15 prefabricated concrete pieces: 250,000 lbs., including guard rails. SEMA established five fabrication yards to form the pieces, alongside and parallel to the existing bridges so that they could be rapidly placed. Bridge Design The new bridges were designed by TxDOT’s Bridge Division. see ABC page 36
The coronavirus is a fact of life on the construction job site this year, and contractors have been forced to change the way they complete projects as a result. It is an ongoing challenge as the industry conditions itself to new approaches to work and personal safety. But best practices and ingenuity have advanced safety and efficiency on the construction job site. Beyond social distancing, sanitizing and personal protection equipment (PPE), contractors and site owners are adopting site safety protocols for tracking traffic and materials; integrating apps, drones and wearables to monitor employee distancing and exposure; and expanding daily routines to include temperature checks and limit in-person meetings. “Responsible contractors are hungry to publicly prove they can work safely and prevent the spread of COVID-19 while supporting the nation’s critical infrastructure and providing much-needed income for the people who work on those projects,” wrote Jordan Hollingsworth, field operations manager of Safety Management Group, Indianapolis, Ind., in a company blog post. “After all, the construction industry employs almost 10.7 million people in the United States,” he added. Massman Construction, Overland Park, Kan., is clear about its company-wide safety policy. “The Massman Safety and Health Plan is a living document that is updated frequently based on project-specific requirements for safety, security and environmental stewardship. The plan outlines the written program that assists our project teams in preventing incidents and injuries on our project sites.” Contractor Conquers Challenges Tempe, Ariz.-based Sundt Construction chose “to get out in front” of the challenge, taking a direct approach to the coronavirus. “Construction firms have been given a tall order: To maintain workers’ safety during a pandemic while also building essential structures that allow society to function,” the company stated in a press release on its pandemic response. see COVID page 37